The Iowa Republican congressman Steve King was under mounting pressure on Saturday, over remarks in which he asked how the term “white supremacy” came to be seen to be offensive.
Related: Trump ally Steve King: I don't know how 'white supremacist' became offensive term
Continue reading...The US government shutdown is now the longest such closure in history. On Saturday, day 22, members of Congress were out of Washington, Donald Trump was unmoved in the White House, his border wall unbuilt, and around 800,000 federal workers were still without pay and facing mounting hardship.
Related: 'Barely above water': US shutdown hits black federal workers hardest
Continue reading...Donald Trump has backed away from his threat to declare a national emergency to fund his long-promised border wall, as pressure mounts to find a solution to the three-week impasse that has closed parts of the government, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers without pay.
“We want Congress to do its job,” the president said Friday during a roundtable on border security at the White House. “What we’re not looking to do right now is national emergency.”
Continue reading...Former Trump lawyer says he accepted invitation from top Democrat and will offer ‘full and credible account of events’
Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer and aide Michael Cohen says he has accepted an invitation from a top House Democrat to testify publicly before Congress next month.
His testimony before the House oversight and reform committee on 7 February will be the first major public oversight hearing for Democrats, who have promised greater scrutiny of Trump after winning control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections.
Continue reading...The Republican congressman says the diverse Democratic party appears to be ‘no country for white men’
A nine-term Republican congressman and close ally of Donald Trump known for making racially provocative statements said in an interview published Thursday that he did not understand why the phrases “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” had “become offensive”.
Congressman Steve King, who has represented his rural Iowa district in Washington since 2003, made the remarks in an interview with the New York Times.
Continue reading...President visits Texas on shutdown’s 20th day as rift with Democrats expands
Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to declare a national emergency if Congress does not meet his demand for billions of dollars to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border as part of a deal to end the partial government shutdown.
The president visited the Texas border on Thursday – the 20th day of a partial government shutdown – in a publicity ploy to help make the case for funding his long-promised wall after negotiations with Democrats broke down.
Continue reading...The US president was speaking to reporters outside the White House when he was asked for his thoughts on calling a national emergency, to which he replied: I'll probably do it, almost definitely.' Donald Trump also denied having a 'temper tantrum' during his reported confrontation with Democrats
Continue reading...In the second-longest shutdown in US government history, Donald Trump continues to demand more than $5bn for a border wall. Congress is in deadlock, and some 800,000 federal employees have been sent home or are working without pay. The president has threatened that the shutdown could last ‘months or even years’. Here’s what that might mean
Continue reading...Donald Trump abruptly ended a critical meeting with Democratic leaders on Wednesday, calling it a “total waste of time” as the partial shutdown of the US government dragged into its 19th day with no end in sight.
The further deterioration of negotiations over the funding lapse affecting nearly 800,000 federal employees came a day after the president used his first address from the Oval Office to reinforce his demands for a wall along the southern border with Mexico.
Continue reading...For the first time in his presidency, Donald Trump delivered a televised address from the Oval Office, urging Congress to pay for his border wall to stop the ‘security crisis at our southern border’. Shortly afterwards, the Democratic House and Senate leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, accused Trump of ‘manufacturing a crisis’
Continue reading...President offers no new solutions to government shutdown in first Oval Office address of his presidency
Donald Trump has used the first Oval Office address of his presidency to stoke fears of illegal immigration, repeat dubious claims about his border wall and offer no new solutions to the partial government shutdown.
In the type of made-for-TV-moment he relishes, the US president blamed criminal gangs and “vast quantities of illegal drugs” for “thousands of deaths” and faulted Democrats for failing to end the shutdown, now in its 18th day. Democrats accused him of fear-mongering.
Continue reading...Democratic leaders to speak from US Capitol in response to president’s televised speech on border security after calling for equal airtime
2020 Watch: Kamala Harris, the senator from California, released her memoir on Tuesday titled The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.
The book chronicles Harris’ upbringing as the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, her unexpected rise in US politics and current policy vision for the country.
“There were a lot of ways Secretary Kelly could have shown responsiveness, a lot of information he could have provided,” Harris writes. “Indeed the American people had a right to this information, and, given my oversight role on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, I intended to get it. Instead, he said gruffly, “Why are you calling me at home with this?” That was his chief concern. By the time we got off the phone, it was clear that he didn’t understand the depth of what was going on. He said he’d get back to me, but he never did.”
Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who attended the infamous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower during the presidential campaign, has been charged by US authorities with obstruction of justice.
The indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, is separate from the special counsel investigation of Russian interference in the US election and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Natalia Veselnitskaya is accused of fabricating evidence in a US money-laundering case she was working on when she visited Trump Tower in June 2016 to meet senior Trump advisers including his son Donald Jr and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Federal prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday that Veselnitskaya and a senior Russian official drafted a bogus investigation report that she presented in court as supposed evidence that exonerated her client, Prevezon.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has threatened a national emergency in the 'next few days' to allow him to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. By doing this, he could unlock money from other sources, thereby avoiding the need for approval from Democrats
Continue reading...Donald Trump said on Sunday he may declare a national emergency over immigration, to allow him to build a wall on America’s southern border.
Related: Is Mitt Romney the man to lead a Republican rebellion against Trump?
Continue reading...Saturday was day 15 of a partial government shutdown that Donald Trump said could go on for months or years, if he is not given funding for a wall on the Mexican border. As new talks were held without result, potentially devastating effects of the shutdown were coming into focus.
Related: Shutdown over border wall is crucial test for Trump's presidency
Continue reading...President threatens to declare national emergency and build wall without congressional approval: ‘I can do it if I want’
As a partial US government shutdown hit the two-week mark, Donald Trump told congressional leaders at the White House he was prepared for the standoff to last months or even years.
“Absolutely I said that,” said Trump during a Rose Garden press conference, when asked if Senator Chuck Schumer was correct in his claim that the White House was prepared to continue the shutdown indefinitely.
Continue reading...As the shutdown’s toll becomes clearer, the president aims to keep his pledge – but Democrats have reason to resist
There are two chants that everyone remembers from Donald Trump’s campaign rallies. One is “Lock her up!”, aimed at Hillary Clinton, a demand not likely to be met unless America becomes a banana republic. The other is “build that wall!”
It is now crunch time for this central, defining promise of the Trump candidacy and “make America great again” movement. The US president says he will not support a bill to fully fund the government until he secures $5.6bn for a wall on the US-Mexico border.
Continue reading...The partial government shutdown, which hit the two-week mark on Friday, could continue indefinitely after a meeting between Donald Trump and top Democrats failed to resolve their dispute. The president went on to say he could declare a national emergency and build a wall without congressional approval: ‘I can do it if I want’
Continue reading...President says ‘we can call it a national emergency’ to bypass Congress and build wall ‘quickly’ at press conference
Asked if he would turn down the automatic raise coming his way during the government shutdown, @VP Pence says “yes.” pic.twitter.com/Z6vPc14Cuf
Trump also said he would consider asking his Cabinet officials not to accept the $10,000 raise due to take effect for them tomorrow.
Donald Trump seems to confirm ABC News reporting that his administration is considering building a wall without the consent or appropriation of Congress by declaring a national emergency.
“I can do it if I want,” Trump said. “We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly.”
"I can do it if I want," Trump now saying he is "allowed" to build the wall himself without congressional approval or appropriation. "We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly."
President Trump just said he could declare a national emergency to build the wall unilaterally without Congress. So this whole shutdown is... what, then?
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected House speaker, insisted Trump's border wall would not receive funding as the partial US government shutdown hit the two-week mark on Friday. Pelosi described the wall as 'an old way of thinking, it isn't cost effective'
Continue reading...